PARKCITY, Utah – This is the last batch of Sundance reviews I’ve got to offer. A tad late, but I couldn’t let these films go uncommented on, especially with their special offerings for those who seek them out. I hope that each of these films finds an audience.

CHICAGO – Few movies are as timeless as Elia Kazan’s amazing “On the Waterfront,” recently released in a Criterion Blu-ray edition that stands among the best classics-in-HD releases I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of them.

CHICAGO – Marlon Brando was at or near the peak of his screen charisma when Elia Kazan tapped him to star in his adaptation of Tennesse Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire,” recently released on Blu-ray in a digibook edition with a booklet about the making of the film but no new special features. The transfer is nice and the previously released special features are stellar, but this feels like something of a missed opportunity to do something a little more special for the HD debut of this influential film.

CHICAGO – What could “Last Tango in Paris,” “Moonstruck,” and “Rain Man” possibly have in common? Two won major oscars and the third should have? All three feature some of the career-best work by iconic actors? Honestly, all that they have in common is that they weren’t out on Blu-ray before and every catalog title needs a release date eventually and so MGM chose February 15th for the trio. Pick up all three.

CHICAGO – One of the most recent inductees into the most esteemed collection in the history of DVD is one of the most star-powered dramas of the ’60s with four Oscar-winning actors in Maureen Stapleton, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, and Marlon Brando, working in collaboration with a script co-written by Tennesse Williams and directed by Sidney Lumet. That “The Fugitive Kind” doesn’t quite live up to that incredible pedigree shouldn’t be too surprising, but it’s still a good addition for classic film collectors.

CHICAGO – The TCM Classic Film Festival, in Hollywood from April 22nd to the 25th, made a stop in Chicago during their “Road to Hollywood” fest promotion. Legendary star Eva Marie Saint introduced the film “North by Northwest.”

CHICAGO – A blue collar worker father who has a secret Marlon Brando obsession (gasp!), a son with an improbable fetish and a daughter who quits college to…strip, this is a normal day-in-the-life in the new film “City Island.”

CHICAGO – The film buff’s essential network, Turner Classic Movies, is having a film festival next month in Hollywood from April 22nd to the 25th, and as promotion for that festival, Eva Marie Saint will introduce “North by Northwest” in Chicago.

Navigation

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

CHICAGO – If you can remember the 1990s outside of childhood, you are in the glow of middle age, so congratulations. The Brown Paper Box Co. theater ensemble takes us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear with “Spike Heels,” a relationship comedy centering on the co-mingling antics of two couples, with a slight nod toward George Bernard Shaw and the play “Pygmalion” (or its musical counterpart, “My Fair Lady”).

CHICAGO – One potential theater-goer loves the “The Book of Mormon.” The other would rather stay home and watch old Ethel Merman YouTube videos. Pride Films & Theater offers the ultimate solution by combining both in a campy musical, “The Book of Merman.” Yep, two Elder characters from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meets foghorn singer Ethel Merman.